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Delaware stepping up efforts to prosecute those dumping trash along roadways

People dumping trash on roadsides are a big problem in Delaware, say the law enforcement officers who try to stop it from happening each day.

With only a dozen officers handling environmental crimes across the state, the scofflaws tend to have the upper hand when leaving trash bags, construction materials and old tires along the highways and byways in Delaware.

But despite the best efforts of people to avoid paying for waste disposal by dumping trash where it doesn't belong, law enforcement sometimes gets its man.

And in some cases its woman.

A Dover woman was arrested last week after the Natural Resources Police Environmental Crimes Unit investigated a recent dumping complaint made to DNREC’s Office of Community Services.

Judine Simms, 51, was charged with using a motor vehicle to dispose of or discharging solid waste for dumping multiple bags of household trash on the roadside of South Little Creek Road in Kent County.

Simms, who was only the fourth person arrested so far in 2018 for similar charges, was fined $500 and required to pick up the trash that she had dumped.

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Drive along many roads in rural Delaware and you might see garbage that has been dumped in ditches and in woods next to the roadways.(Photo: Jerry Smith/The News Journal)

Two other arrests made in 2018 occurred in February and stem from incidents of illegal trash dumping on state wildlife areas by two downstate men.

Ibis A. Ayala, 33, of Dover, was charged with four counts of causing or contributing to the disposal or discharge of solid waste on the Division of Fish & Wildlife-owned Woodland Beach Wildlife Area near Smyrna.

William H. Cloak III, 41, of Felton, was charged with one count of causing or contributing to the disposal or discharge of solid waste on the Fish & Wildlife-owned Norman G. Wilder Wildlife Area near Felton.

Both men were fined and released, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Since 2013, DNREC law enforcement officers have arrested 96 people for "Improper Disposal of Solid Waste." The total fines imposed from 2013 to now are just over $50,000.

That's only a fraction of what it costs to clean up the discarded trash in Delaware and across the country.

Litter cleanup costs the U.S. an estimated $11.5 billion each year, with states, cities and counties together spending $1.3 billion on litter abatement, according to the latest National Visible Litter Survey and Litter Cost Study.

According to Delaware's litter control law, any person found guilty of littering or illegal dumping can be fined no less than $50 and given up to eight hours of community service for a first offense. That rises to a $75 fine and up to 25 hours of community service for a second offense within two years.

If the offense occurred on or along a Delaware byway – defined as any road adjacent to an area of particular scenic, historical or cultural interest – an additional mandatory penalty of $500 must be imposed for every first, second and subsequent offense, in addition to the fine.

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Some people don't go very far into the country to dump their trash. This garbage was dumped on Leipsic Road in the shadow of the Dover International Speedway.(Photo: Jerry Smith/The News Journal)

In addition, any person found guilty can be required to pick up and remove from any public street, highway or public or private right-of-way, or public beach, stream, bank or public park any and all litter.

In 2017, there were 27 individuals arrested, with fines totaling $13,500. It was DNREC's most successful year in terms of arrests and fines in the past five years.

Pat Emory, director of the Office of Community Services, would like to see those numbers increase.

"We've been doing all we can, but it's a big problem here in Delaware," he said. "It's not easy, and it's not getting any better. Sometimes I think we are putting a dent in it, but there are times when it just overwhelms us."

Emory said without photographic or video evidence, illegal dumping cases are hard to prove. Cases sometimes come down to one person’s word against another's. Even a discarded document containing a name and address can’t prove guilt, he said.

"When people dump construction materials or shingles or massive amounts of garbage bags, nobody sees that so it's hard to catch," he said. "It's a shame because we put a lot of emphasis on catching these people. We just need more help."

Leaders such as Delaware Rep. Rich Collins, R-District 41, believe Delaware can do better when it comes to stopping trash dumping.

The Millsboro-area legislator introduced a resolution in the General Assembly to create the Delaware Anti-Dumping and Anti-Littering Solutions Task Force. The task force is charged with suggesting strategies to curtail littering and illegal dumping and will report to the General Assembly with its recommendations.

The panel includes state officials with skin in the game and is chaired by Secretary of the Department of Transportation Jennifer Cohan.

The task force has been considering protocols to regularly clean littering and illegal dumping hotspots throughout Delaware and also has discussed stricter laws and how enforcement efforts can be made more effective, task force meeting minutes show.

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Pat Emory, director of the Office of Community Services for the State of Delaware, said that old tires and construction debris are some of the bigger items dumped alongside Delaware's roads.(Photo: Jerry Smith/The News Journal)

Emory said his office posts road signs to make people aware of the law, but that only goes so far.

"The Delaware law itself and the signage deter most people in the state, but there are those who ignore both," he said. "It goes in ebbs and flows and is seasonal. We see it most in the spring and summer months."

Emory believes the answer to a wholesale change may be in more education about the law and environmental consequences.

He thinks schoolchildren learning about the negative effects of dumping and littering might be the foundation of change.

"Besides adding more officers, education is how I think we can tackle this issue. We want to start stepping up the process by visiting more schools," he said. "We want to interact with students to get the message across and hope they will pass it along to their parents, who might think twice about dumping trash along our roadways."